Enjoying the small things

When you have a little human in your life who captivates your attention, affection and your energy... It brings you to a place of appreciating the small things. Being an adult can be so intense, and worrisome. 

Having a child has reminded me how to live life a little less seriously, appreciating the  magical moments that everyday gives us, not being so consumed by the busy life and over arching duties that I have as a single mom, working and going to grad school full-time. Madi is my constant reminder to live a simpler life filled with joy, living unrestrained, doing anything, not worrying... Knowing that eventually everything will get done, it will all be okay in the end, you might as well have fun in the process. Madi has taught me all over again how to be present in this moment, in a place of wonder and delight. I have relearned how to see through the eyes of a child.

These are the things I get to join in with my daughter: Twirling around and around, while squealing, throwing our arms in the air, until we are too dizzy to stand. Dancing our hearts out at the end of a movie, hand in hand. Admiring the sky, pointing out figures in the clouds. sketching two friends holding hands, wearing big smiles on their faces. Running as fast as I can pushing Madi in a shopping cart through the snow filled parking lot, giggling the whole way. Nose kisses. Lots of cuddles. Seeing who can blink the most, the fastest. Throwing skittles in the air, catching them with our faces. Chasing her around the house, listening to her squeal with the anticipation of being caught - I love hearing her excitement. Picking up the guitar, strumming, out of tune, making up lyrics as she goes. Watching Funny kid movies. Experiencing Unconditional love. Finding delight in the novelty and newness of everything. 

These are the things I get to venture into because I have a wee little joy-filled five year old girl by my side. Lucky me. I've had the beautiful opportunity to experience childhood again, alongside Madilynn. 

Bath time

Madi is taking a bath.  Baby duck: "mommy, I have to go potty" Mommy duck: "you can go potty" Baby duck: "will you take me mommy?" Mommy duck: "sure sweetheart" *madi puts baby duck on mommy ducks back and swims to the other side of the tub* I don't know what it is, but just listening to my daughter play is so amazingly priceless.

Beautiful Child

My heart could explode. Every time I look at Madilynn I am in awe. It is amazing because my love only continues to grow for her - even when I don't feel like it can grow any larger.

Madilynn's First Day of Preschool - Salem Hills Elementary

So many changes are happening everyday, it is hard to keep up with her. She began Preschool at Salem Hills Elementary October 24th 2011. She LOVES it there and is excelling. I am so impressed with the program and everything that they have to offer. Ms. Kathy and Ms. Joanne are her fabulous teachers.

She is starting to grasp so many more concepts. Madi is wired so uniquely, it is really beautiful how she is contently her own person, I love it. She may technically be behind regarding her communication and language, but she is advanced in so many other ways - she feels deeper than the average 3 year old, she understands on a different level, she has depth. Her spirit is so sweet and kind - she is empathetic and realizes how her choices affect others. She is perceptive and intuitive, more so than any other 3 year old I have met. Her love is amazing, natural and pure - I can feel it, and I am addicted to it. Her hugs, her kisses, and her "Mommy you are beautiful"s are enough to get me through the toughest days. People are drawn to her, because she has this sweet positive energy about her. I can just sit and watch her and I can see God in her. I can never get enough.

Madilynn loves music, and thoroughly enjoys singing along to all music (whether she knows the music or not). The first two songs I noticed her singing along to were Super Base - Niki Minaj and Adele - Someone Like You. There is nothing more precious than hearing your child sing.

She loves movies, especially the intense dramatic ones, she quotes so many movies as she watches them. I love watching her engage with the characters. The other day she was watching a film and there was a sad, heartbreaking scene and she began to cry, empathizing with the characters - I was amazed that at 3 years old she is able to grasp the emotion behind the actions of the characters. Madilynn has a soft heart, full of love and tenderness.

October 2011

I am wowed day in and day out to see what she can create out of paints, markers and a blank piece of paper. She is truly an artist. Her favorite past time is to create art. She is always creating new designs, mostly abstract like the one above. I have so many pieces it is hard to know what to save and what to throw - so for now I have piles of hundreds of pictures more precious to me than a Picasso painting. My daughter is talented.

November 2011

She is a princess, and loves all things girlie. She is so her mothers daughter. My heart Gleams when I watch her dress up, put on her lip gloss, wear my high heels, beg me to paint her nails pretty, smile at herself in the mirror... she is adorable.

She loves Dancing. She began dance class in Sept 2011 and loves going to class. She is the free spirit of the class no doubt, usually doing her own thing - she stands out of the crowd - I cannot wait to watch her perform on stage.

Her teachers love her and have only great things to say. She listens and behaves so well. They said "we have never seen her anything but Happy" and that she is a joy to have. Madi is a very happy-go-lucky little lady who loves to be active, loves to learn, and loves to connect with people.

It keeps getting better. Parenthood is a roller coaster ride, full of excitement. I am so blessed. Everyday I thank God for Madilynn, with her my life feels so at peace.

3.5

time flies... it has been awhile since I have updated. So here goes.

 

I have a ... Dancing. twinkle-little star singing. laughing. Pretty much, no more napping. Coloring. cleaning. Picky eating. 'I have an Owie.' Loving. Movie Watching. Play-dough playing. Lip gloss wearing. Pretty-pretty princess pretending. Fake food serving. Book enjoying. Somersault flipping. Melody Loving. Praying. Babbling. jump up in the air, tapping. water drinking. well-behaving. Energy producing. Leotard wearing. Chatting. Caring. little girl.

 

Everyone loves her vibrant energy. 3 years old is so much better than the terrible-twos. I only have to tell her once and she gets it, she understands consequences well, and she behaves so much better than she used to.

She is so curious about everything now... she went to Dodge Nature preschool over the summer. She loved it and the teachers loved her. She got to get her hands (and whole body) dirty pretty much everyday.

 I am nervous about ever having another child just because I know that the chances of me ever having a child as easy and as great as her are fairly slim. She is such a good-girl and listens so well.

She loves bath time. She even embraces bedtime well, we have a set routine that she loves to follow. Brush your teeth (sometimes a bath), read a book, say our prayers, kisses, hugs and I love you's... every night we embrace each other for a good couple minutes before I tuck her in. She still loves to listen to her lullaby CD throughout the night.

She is an arteist no doubt. Her favorite thing to do is to color and paint (besides watching TV of course)

Oh wow... she is a dancing queen. Pretty sure I have created a monster here. On dance class days she is excited alllll day and when I tell her that she has dance that day I have to plug my ears to block out the high-pitched squeal that comes out of her tiny little self. AND if I let her, she would wear her dance shoes all day everyday...

We had a fabulous summer. Statefair, camping, going to parks... we did a ton of fun things. She loves to be active and do and see new things. Her excitement is so fun to see, she is always squealing and screaming exuberantly.

She loves to Love everyone and everything! If I could freeze these moments in time I sure would. I love every second with her - watching her and interacting with her. Madilynn Paige is a treasure.

Night and Day

Madi keeps changing... she is growing up, and in less than a month she will be three.

Some of her favorite things:
-Melody (and her tag)
-Princesses. She wears a princess dress-up dress daily over her clothes - she will even demand to sleep in it.
-Painting. Water colors and fingerpainting - she prefers it over markers, crayons and pastels.
-Chocolate. It can be candy or cake it doesn't matter. The other day I gave her applesauce she pushed it away and said, "chocolate please" yeah Madi... not happening.
-Movies. Ponyo and TMNT are two of her favorites right now.
-Cereal, yogurt, noodles, mac-n-cheese, and candy are her favorite things to eat.

unique to Mad's:
-She hates anything dirty or messy especially her hands and face.
-Madi likes everything a certain way... for example she wants her cup and napkin set a certain way around her plate and if I move anything she will not have it. She likes to be tucked in a certain way at night.
-Green is her favorite color. she chooses green and blue over all other colors anytime there is an option of color.
-Bath time is not her favorite, by any means, she usually fights me when it is time to bathe... sadly.
-She is a picky eater and won't even try it based on appearance (she doesn't get that from me)
-She doesn't like hot food she prefers it Luke warm or cooler.
-One of my favorite things about her is that she doesn't get into things that she isn't supposed to touch. She has never even broken anything... I don't ever have to worry about "what she is getting in to" it is great.
-Attitude is her game. She has A LOT of it!
-Water is her drink of choice.
-Sleep is no issue with her, she embraces it well, as long as she has Melody, water, and a blanket.
-She thrives on routine. Every night before bed we read a book, pray, give hugs and kisses, then I turn on music - if any of those are not in the equation she is not a happy camper.
-Getting prettied up is something she loves to do.
-She is organized and likes things put together. She lined up all of barbies shoes in her princess castle in front of the dresser in barbies room. it is cute.
-Cuddling is something she is great at, and kisses and hugs - I love it when she is sweet.
-Stubbornness is one of her greatest characteristics, if she doesn't want to do it, she will fight tooth and nail.
-Music and dancing are things she really enjoys.
-She loves for me to tickle her skin: arms, legs, feet, face - she even prompts me.
-She is very sensitive - it reminds me of myself. She will become sad if I say no to something, and pucker up her lip.
-The camera isn't her favorite thing...
-Painting her nails is something that she would be happy if I did everyday.
-Her hair is fine and curly - just like mine as a kid.
-The car is her happy place. If she is screaming and freaking out, that is a place that will calm her.

Madi is night and day - she is either the sweetest little thing, or the most angry little girl you ever did see. Naps are a must, if she doesn't get one than life is miserable! She likes to be on the go. But if I need a calm chill day, she does great with that too - she is content with cuddling up on the couch to watch a movie, I love it. Madi is full of life and character. Everyone loves her.

"it's okay"

Madi reassures me often, telling me "It's okay" in her cute enthusiastic, high pitched girly voice. She is so cute, and even though she is so innocent and sweet and fragile - she is my backbone.

Time is flying by and I so desperately don't want to forget all of these precious moments as she grows. She is growing up so fast. There is always something new going on in her world. She is learning so much day in and day out. I am so proud to be her Mom!

She caught on really quick with potty training. The beginning of September 2010 she would wake with a dry diaper. So I decided to introduce the potty. Success! there have been some accidents here and there - which is to be expected, but so far it has been easier than I anticipated. I don't even dread public, it is great :) my two and a half year old is pretty much potty ready! I love it. We kissed diapers goodbye :)

her first official obsession, and when I say obsession that is EXACTLY what I mean... Princess!! She loves anything and everything princess. As far as being a girly girl, she has got it down pat. I love it! She even loves to rock my heels that are getting dusty because mommy doesn't wear them too often. I love it because, in her girly-ness I see myself all over again as a little girl. I cannot wait for her to start dance, she already loves it and she has yet to begin a class.

She digs movies, especially princess movies! She loves to color, and is actually quite good at it for a two year old. Purses, dress up, shoes and clothes - she loves it all. She loves her kitchen and enjoys pretend cooking and eating.

Melody is still her best friend, and she prefers her original bear - she won't take a new one to bed at night, she likes the worn out tags on the bottom. she nixed the music box though and just uses melody for a good cuddle every once in awhile, especially if she is worked up emotionally - it brings her security.

She still babbles a lot, but it is cute. I work with her on proper annunciation but she doesn't care to respond correctly - so I am not pushing her, that is what school will do for her at 5. She talks a ton, and is a little chatter box. She has the politeness down (finally) and I love it :)

Madi has such a youthful, particular, carefree personality - and is very headstrong. No one will ever stand in her way, that's for sure! She is independant but does great with her friends. She loves to give and get kisses and hugs, she is sweet in that way. But when she wants to be left alone she will be sure to let you know! she is a feisty one.

We began swimming lessons this fall. So far so good :) she loves the water. Her favorite is jumping in. Kicking a swimming seem to come naturally to her.

As for the terrible two fits she was throwing during summer - they have calmed and gotten much better, and now when she has them they are much more manageable. Some have forewarned me for the terrible-three's... hopefully they won't be as bad, but I am prepared.

She has my hair for sure - color and all. Dans coloring and his eyes. Her mouth is just like mine, but she has the beautiful Rosario (Puerto Rican) lips. she is a beauty, I can only imagine what the teenage years will bring. I need to get some more practice on the shotgun, the boys will be chasing after her.

Motherhood is a fun roller coaster of unknown twists and turns. The excitement is never ending, it only intensifies as time goes by. I never knew I could love something so much. Madi has truly been a gift, that has opened my eyes up to the beauty of true, unconditional love - the love of a mother for her child.

"I want Princess!!"

said with a squeal!

My little love bug isn't getting any smaller...
Time is flying by and so are the precious moments with my {no longer a} baby. She is a big girl now, and into big girl things!

We went on a trip to California for GRandpa's wedding in July, it was fun, but a ton of work for Mommy. Madilynn was at the peak of what I refer to as her "Rage fits," which defines EXACTLY what they were. yeah... no bueno, for everyone involved. Some nanny 911 tricks seemed to help and she is much better now. Instead of screaming, yelling, hitting and kicking she goes into another room and puts her head in her hands sobbing quietly, cute and sad all at the same time - but I am not going to lie, it is much better than the fits.

Two years has been a blast and a such a challenge all at the same time. I am learning more and more everyday about how to be a better Mom.

Princess, barbies, girly things... that is all she likes right now. I am loving it!